Nourishing homemade chicken soup is one of my go-to meals for lunch and dinner and it makes the perfect comfort meal for a sick or grieving friend. Everyone eats this nutritious chicken soup, even the pickiest eaters. This recipe is great if you are on a budget and want to keep your family dinners under $10.
Do you want to have your kids fight over the leftovers? Leftover fights are great, because it makes fridge clean out easier. It’s one less dish you pull out of the fridge and say, “Ahhhhrg! How long has this been IN HERE?!!”
Another awesome benefit with this nourishing homemade chicken soup is that it happens to be extremely versatile. Additionally, you can make it thick or thin, stew chunky or on the light side, with or without noodles, add rice and other garden vegetables, or just use the broth if you are fighting a cold!
It is absolutely budget-friendly to make nourishing homemade chicken soup for your family.
I love saving money on dinners and this is what we do to get ready for our homemade chicken soup. It starts with a trip to Costco and we always pick up a rotisserie chicken from the deli. We have some of it with mashed potatoes and a vegetable for one dinner. Then, the next night we use a little more chicken for our chicken tacos. On the third day, I make broth. First, I remove as much remaining meat as I can without getting too tedious. Then I make a bone broth from the leftover bones, skin and drippings found in the bottom of the disposable container.
Isn’t that great! Three dinners come from one chicken! Plus we get one lunch from it as leftover soup. Yours might not stretch quite that far depending on your family size, but it still gives you a lot of food!
Here is the nourishing homemade chicken soup broth recipe.
You will want to start this in the morning or early afternoon. It takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to simmer.
Nourishing Homemade Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Bone Broth Ingredients:
- 1 Roasted Chicken boned, meat cut up and reserved
- 3 Cloves Garlic crushed
- ½ Onion cut in large chunks
- 2 Carrots peeled & cut in chunks
- 2 Large stalks of celery cut in large chunks
- 10 Peppercorns optional
- Hot water enough to cover bones by 2 inches or more
Soup Ingredients:
- Broth from boiled chicken
- 2 TBSP Thrive Chicken Flavored bouillon
- Reserved chicken meat at least 2 Cups
- ½ Onion diced
- 2 Carrots diced
- 2 Celery stalks diced
- 5-6 Ounces Egg noodles
- 2 T. Corn starch optional
Instructions
Bone Broth Instructions:
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In an 8 quart stock pot, add chicken bones, skin, and drippings from the container. (I pour in some hot water in the disposable bottom container to get all the drippings out, and then add it to the pot.) Cover the bones with a couple of inches of hot water and bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil, turn down heat to medium/low for a slow simmer.
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While waiting for the water to boil, wash the produce. Cut onion, carrots and celery into chunks and add to simmering broth. Crush and peel garlic and add that to the broth along with peppercorns. Simmer 2.5 to 3 hours on low, adding a little bit more water if needed. Strain broth into a second pot (at least 5 quart) and discard the bones and veggies once cooled. Add the chicken bouillon and stir to dissolve. You can freeze this for later or move right into making soup.
Soup Instructions:
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Bring broth to a boil, and add chopped veggies and chicken. Boil until veggies are almost done (about 15 minutes) and then add the noodles and cook until tender. At this point you can thicken the broth by adding a small amount of corn starch or flour dissolved in water. ( 2 T. to 1/4 C. water) Just make sure to add it slowly and whisk it in fast to avoid lumps. Adjust the recipe as needed to suit your tastes.
This nourishing homemade chicken soup is really simple to make, once you get the hang of it! Furthermore, it is perfect for going gluten-free. Just omit the noodles and any flour, and increase the amount of chicken and veggies.
I like to use Thrive Life’s chicken bouillon powder, but I have also used the organic “Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base” in the same amount. Both are great and having the concentrated bouillon saves you from stocking up on those clunky expensive cans of broth.
TIP: While cutting the veggie chunks to simmer with the broth, dice up the veggies for the soup at the same time and place in the fridge.
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